Mr. Colin Jacksonasked the President of the Board of Trade why it was decided to include diamonds in the figures of merchandise trade after 1965; and why gold bullion, a comparable commodity, is not included.
§ Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody:The current treatment follows general international practice. Diamonds were excluded in the years 1949 to 1964 only because of difficulties of documentation. Trade in gold bullion, because of the importance of gold as a monetary asset, is of very different significance from that of trade in diamonds and other merchandise; for this 232W reason it is shown in a separate table in the Overseas Trade Statistics.